


As Time Goes By

by NorthernSol



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Flower Shop, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-15 00:06:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,249
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29427159
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NorthernSol/pseuds/NorthernSol
Summary: “Excuse me, is there anything I can help you with?”“Huh? Oh,” the guy in question quickly took out his earbuds and turned towards the employee. “Sorry about that, I couldn’t really hear you. What did you say?”So this person had the nerve to squeeze themselves in before closing time and not pay attention to their surroundings.Koushi stifled the desire to let out a sigh of annoyance and repeated his question, “Do you need any assistance? It would be my pleasure to help you.”“Oh. Actually, I would like to talk to you about getting a bouquet for my mom. Do you have any recommendations?”What will come from this encounter?
Relationships: Oikawa Tooru/Sugawara Koushi
Comments: 3
Kudos: 24
Collections: OiSuga Valentines Exchange 2021





	As Time Goes By

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Paltita](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Paltita/gifts).



> Paltita, I hope you enjoy the work more than I enjoyed creating it. It was a personal beast for me to take on and I hope it turned out well in the end.

January.

Koushi needed a job, and badly. The financial support he received from his parents for college only went so far after paying bills and buying necessities. He was in his final year of studies and after he graduated, he knew it was to be expected of him to fully support himself. Luckily enough, a flower shop close by to the university Koushi attended was hiring. 

It wasn’t a big shop by any definition. If you weren’t paying attention to storefronts you were walking by, it would be undetected. There were no extravagant displays of flowers with vivid colors and eye-catching patterns. Just a few bouquets resting in front of the window, getting their daily sunlight. Above the door was a pale green sign that read Nobuyuki’s Garden. 

Koushi was lucky enough to have his application accepted by such a nice place back in December. He didn’t want to add the stress of working in a fast-paced environment filled with entitled customers on top of his full course load. The owner of the store, Nobuyuki Sachiko, trained the silver-haired student herself. The other employee, her son, Kai, was also a college student and had a very peculiar window of time available set for work. Generally, it was either Koushi and Sachiko or Kai and Sachiko who worked together on the rare occasion that all three would man the shop together. 

For the first week, everything was quiet. Well aside from Sachiko’s lectures. She made it a habit to impart her wisdom onto the young adult during the slow hours of the day. Her lectures varied from the importance of raising a pet to how technology is taking away one’s independence. Everything was well-meaning, but sometimes it was just too much for a brain-fried student to respond any other way than smiling and giving the occasional nod or hum of agreement.

Quickly enough, Koushi got into the groove of things. Learning about different plants and how to care for them, figuring out what a person really wanted and not just going off by what they said, how to package flowers for shipping in a way that didn’t get them damaged. It all became routine to him.

February.

The days leading up to Valentine’s Day were an absolute disaster. The constant rush of people looking to buy flowers for their loved ones was almost comparable to the fatigue brought from late nights of desperately trying to complete a project due the next day. All different walks of life wanted to get something for their special someone whether it be something for their significant other or a family member.

Most customers wanted the typical red roses or a bouquet of red, pink, and white flowers, which was easy enough since Sachiko had everyone arrange themed bouquets in preparation for the holiday. Of course, there were also people who actually wanted to put more thought into their gifts, asking about the meanings of flowers and what would best represent their feelings.

One such being came into the store, a tall brunette, on the eve of Valentine’s day, right before the store closing hours. Sachiko already left for the night, leaving the college student in charge. Koushi was slightly peeved, but he smoothed out his apron, put on his customer service face, and walked up to the person. 

“Excuse me, is there anything I can help you with?” 

“Huh? Oh,” the guy in question quickly took out his earbuds and turned towards the employee. “Sorry about that, I couldn’t really hear you. What did you say?”

So this person had the nerve to squeeze themselves in before closing time and not pay attention to their surroundings.

Koushi stifled the desire to let out a sigh of annoyance and repeated his question, “Do you need any assistance? It would be my pleasure to help you.”

“Oh. Actually, I would like to talk to you about getting a bouquet for my mom. Do you have any recommendations?” 

The silver-haired student pulled out a note pad and a pen from his apron pocket, “Is there anything specific your mother likes? For example a favorite color or flower?”

The taller ran a hand through his hair, trying to recall some memory, “Her favorite color is blue.”

“That’s a start. We don’t really carry a lot of naturally blue flowers if that is a concern for you.”

The customer gave a little smile, “It’s fine. Can you show me some?”

Koushi gave a little nod to the other, “This way please.”

The shorter man guided the unnamed customer around a display over to an area that had all different colored hydrangeas.

“Are any of these to your liking?” Koushi wanted to find this customer what they wanted as soon as possible so he could close shop and go home.

“Yes, these will work. Can I also add some white roses?”

Another nod from the tired employee, “That’s perfectly fine. If you head up to the register, I will meet you there with the arrangement.”

“I’ll meet you there then,” the brunette set off with a wink to let Koushi do his job.

Koushi made quick work of the flowers, picking them out and trimming the stems so they could be arranged nicely into a bouquet. He added a few sprigs of eucalyptus leaves to break up the flowers a bit. For a rush job, it turned out pretty nice. Once his work was done, the man-made his way to the front counter where the customer was waiting.

“The flowers look nice,” the taller greeted Koushi upon his arrival.

“I hope your mother will too. The payment is 3500 yen, does that work for you?”

“Yeah, that’s fine,” the brunette pulled out his wallet and handed over a mix of bills and coins for payment. 

Koushi handed over the bouquet and gave a little smile, “Thank you for your business and have a good evening.”

The other took the flowers from the employee’s hands gently and headed toward the door “Thank you!” He gave a little wave as he left.

As soon as the person was out of view, the tired man let out a sigh of relief. He flipped the open sign and locked the front door to signify that the store was now closed. He went into the back room to hang up his apron and grab his personal belongings. Koushi left through the back door, locking it on his way out. All that was on his mind was passing out on his comfortable bed, unaware of the fact that he would meet this stranger again.

March. 

It was Friday night and Koushi was out drinking with his friends from high school since none of them had anything important coming up after the weekend. Somehow the conversation went off on a tangent into the dating lives of each other. Sawamura Daichi and Azumane Asahi were in relationships and Koushi hadn’t had a romantic partner since his first year of college. Of course, incessant teasing pursued.

With the aid of alcohol running through the boys, events lead to the oldest’s friends bringing it upon themselves to intervene. One stolen phone and a nervous Asahi holding his silver-haired friend later, Koushi ended up with a dating profile with some preemptive swipe rights that Daichi thought might be a good match. After all the struggling he put up at the beginning, he was tired and eventually gave in. Who knew, maybe it would eventually lead to something interesting.

Eventually, everyone decided to head back to their own homes for the night, parting ways for the time being. The walk home sapped the last bits of the remaining energy Koushi had left and ended up passing out as soon as he touched his bed, not even bothering to remove his clothes to exchange them for something more comfortable.

The following morning the college student woke up with a headache and groaned to himself. Even though he was expecting it, it wasn’t exactly a pleasant experience to have to deal with. Koushi got up and fetched himself a glass of water, chugging it down in one go. Not too long after he started making himself a simple meal of fried rice made from leftover food that he had stored in his fridge.

Only after did he sit down on his bed to eat did he pull out his phone. A notification caught his eye. It was from the app that his friends downloaded for him not even twenty four hours ago. 

You have a match waiting for you.  
You have 3 unread messages.

The sight made the sight stopped Koushi in his tracks. He already had someone interested in him? The silver-haired boy pressed opened the app and navigated his way to the message section to see what someone had sent him.

Ya-ho!  
I was kind of surprised to see you on here~☆  
Would you like to go on a date with me?

It took him a minute to recognize the guy, but eventually, it dawned on him that this was the customer he had last month who asked about getting some flowers for his mom right before it was time to close. Koushi also didn’t realize how handsome the guy actually was, more than likely being too annoyed at the time to really take in how he looked beside his unkempt hair. After going through the profile of the person now known as Oikawa Tooru, he decided maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea to get to know him more.

Well, you are quite forward, aren’t you?

It didn’t take long for him to get a response.

Well, what is the use of beating around the bush and be left in uncertainty when I could just state my intentions? We both have an interest in each other.

Actually, about that. My so-called friends thought it would be a great idea to make me a profile and like some people for me.

So you don’t wish to get to know me?  
What a devastating tragedy T^T

Now when did I say that?

So does this mean you will go out on a date with me? ((・▽・))

It means I would like to get to talk with you more.

Koushi actually found it easy to talk with Tooru, talking about any little thing as they got to see what the other was like. Eventually, they exchanged numbers so they didn’t have to have their conversations somewhat limited due to certain restrictions within the dating app. After some time, Koushi agreed to the other’s persistent date requests.

They decided to meet each other at a bakery on the 14th, White Day. The silver-haired man thought that it was a little cliche, but went along with it anyway since the brunette insisted that it was the only time that his schedule aligned with the other’s. So there Koushi sat, in front of a cute little European-style bakery by the name of Le Pain Quotidien, waiting for Tooru as he ran late.

A figure in the distance could be seen waving at the waiting man as it hurriedly approached. It didn’t take much effort to deduce that this was, in fact, his date by the way he practically exuded cockiness and cheer. When he was close enough, Koushi’s hunch was confirmed with a “Kou-chan~” accompanied by a beaming smile.

The shorter stood up from his seat and walked up to the brunette, “If we were more acquainted, I would have kicked you right now.” 

A gasp came from the other, “Kou-chan, how could you?”

Both of them were used to this kind of banter with each other over text, but it felt a bit different actually interacting face to face. It was a little unnerving to Koushi, but at the same time, they were grateful that neither of them felt the need to put on a “best version” of themselves.

“You’re late and kept me waiting.”

“Oh,” Tooru ran a hand through his devilish hair, “about that. Some girls held me up at uni asking them if I got them anything for White Day. It’s nice to have people fawn over you, but some people take it too far and think they are entitled to me.”

Koushi couldn’t quite understand what that was like for the other, but he could imagine how irritating it would feel if someone treated him that way, “Okay Mr. Popular, your faults have been forgiven. Now, shall we get something to eat?”

“I would love to~”

They entered the store together, a little bell chiming to notify the employees of their presence. The interior was inspired by France and European bakeries. The walls were white brick with pictures of different buildings and skylines around France tables and chairs were all made from metal, painted in black to give it a classier look. For it being a love holiday, the store was fairly empty save for a few couples sitting at some of the tables, lost in their own worlds with their romantic partners.

The shorter went up to the register so the cashier could take his order, already knowing what he wanted from looking at the menu beforehand, “Could I get the eclair assortment with a large milk tea?”

The cashier nodded and Koushi pulled out his wallet but was interrupted by his date, “And please add two milk bread rolls as well as an iced macchiato.”

“Oikawa-” the silver-haired man was interrupted by a wink from the other.

“Think of it as my treat for making you wait.”

Koushi sighed and let Tooru pay for the both of them. He supposed that he was just going to have to return the favor next time. Next time. It took a second for Koushi to catch up with the meaning of what he just thought. They had barely started their date together and he already was planning on there being more. The man could only hope that the other felt the same.

As it turned out, the day went surprisingly well despite the hiccup at the start. Koushi and Tooru went on about everything and nothing as they ate their treats. At the end, both of them stated how they would like to meet each other again. They parted their separate ways, and Koushi headed home to tell Asahi and Daichi how things went.

June.

Just like they said, Koushi and Tooru went on a second date. And then a third. And then some more, realizing that they would like to pursue each other more seriously. The silver-haired student learned more about the other while Tooru did the same for him.

As it turned out, Koushi was a month older than Tooru and the two attended the same university, just in different areas of the campus since Koushi’s pursuit of a degree in teaching had very little overlap with the brunette’s study of kinesiology. More often than not, one would wait for the other to get out of class so they could be together for just a little longer. 

It was June thirteenth and Koushi had just finished his last class of the day. The plan was to meet with Tooru at his biochem class and get some food and hang out at the older’s place. It was Koushi’s birthday and both agreed that it would be nice to actually stay in for once.

The silver-haired student was notified by the sudden flow of drained individuals coming out from the door that Tooru’s class was now over. It didn’t take long for Koushi to spot who he was waiting on thanks to the fact that he was way taller than the average person.

He proceeded to put his hand in the air to beckon the other to him, “Oikawa, hurry up and get you ass over here!”

The person in question turned his head and strolled over to Koushi, feigning a pout, “Kou-chan, you are too mean.”

The shorter snickered playfully, “It’s my birthday, I can be mean if I want to.”

“Let’s go get you some food then, before you get even more mad at me.”

With that, the two made their way off campus and walked to the nearest KFC to pick up a bucket of chicken and some side dishes to eat later. It was an easy enough trip, they had their school bags to carry the food in to make the trip from the restaurant to Koushi’s apartment faster.

Upon their arrival, the older fished his keys from his pocket to unlock the door. The place he lived in was a small studio apartment but all things considered, it was nice enough. There wasn’t really any place to put things like a nice sized couch or a dining table. The key to everything was multi-functional furniture.

Koushi had Tooru leave his shoes by the door and gave him a pair of slippers while he took their bags and put them on the coffee table in front of the TV before flopping on top of his bed. The brunette took that as a signal to join the other and sat down next to the limp figure.

The older let out a soft groan slightly muffled from bedding, “I didn’t expect to be so tired when I got home, Hamanaka-san really went all out on the lecture in class today.”

A small frown crossed Tooru’s face, “Do you want to rest then? We could just watch something if that’s what you want.”

Koushi slowly sat up and looked over to the other, “That wouldn’t be too bad, we could rent a movie.”

The younger stood up and headed over to the coffee table, “You pick out something to watch while I get our food.”

The silver-haired student nodded and grabbed the remote from his bedside table to see what might interest him. Koushi ended up choosing to play Spirited Away, keeping it paused until Tooru returned with the KFC meal. As soon as the brunette sat down, the other pressed play, grabbing his portion of takeout. 

Koushi scooted closer to the other, wanting to indulge himself in the warmth and comfort Tooru gave off. The time flew by as the two conversed about the movie, saying how good a part was or their distaste for a particular character. Soon enough, their food was eaten and the movie was over.

Tooru took this opportunity to take their dishes away as well as get something from his bag. After taking care of food remains and trash that was left, the brunette returned to the bed on which the birthday boy resided. 

“I got something for you,” the taller winked at Koushi and presented a small teal gift box wrapped with a white ribbon, “Happy birthday, Kou-chan~”

“Thank you,” the older took the box from the other and opened it up. There was a small object wrapped in white tissue paper which made it a bit harder to uncover what it hid, but he conquered it all the same. The object turned out to be a charm of a bushel of blue hydrangeas.

Tooru spoke before Koushi could say anything, “I wanted to get you something that reminded you of how we first ended up meeting. I know it’s nothing fancy or anything, but I hope you like it anyway.”

The older looked up at the other and smiled, “I like it very much. To be honest, I wasn’t expecting you to get me anything so this was a nice surprise. Thank you, Tooru~”


End file.
